A few suggestions are a bit over the top -- please, spare me the musical snow globe -- but I do like the idea of a fresh, fragrant wreath over the bed, and a stocking filled with bath accessories is fun:

* A water decanter is a nice touch on the nightstand. For the holidays add some orange slices to give it a seasonal flavor. And remember, Santa's not the only one who likes cookies. Your guest will enjoy a sweet touch before retiring. Individually wrapped treats keep fresh throughout a visit.

* Change your picture over the bed to a fresh evergreen wreath. It adds a nice fragrance to the room and says welcome. Leave a greeting card or two for your guest. Remind they how glad you are they are visiting.

* Replace your accent pillow with a seasonal design pillow.

* A musical snow globe adds a soothing seasonal sound.

* A small tree with treats is fun and appealing. Ours has delicious chocolates wrapped as presents.

* Big ornaments on shelves and holiday phrases will spread some cheer.

* Your guest will love seeing old photos of a previous visit or a special memory. Place them on the dresser or nightstand.

* Bath accessories are always appreciated. Save small travel amenities to use when guest come or purchase special seasonal ones. Fill a stocking with everything to make your guest comfortable.

* Robe and slippers take up so much space in luggage. Your guest will enjoy the ones you make ready for their stay. Don't forget a luggage rack. It is so much easier for unpacking.

* Point out the charger drawer and the guestbook for their comments.

* If you've stored personal items in the dresser drawer, clear the top 2 or 3 drawers for your guests.

And nicely tucked in among all the recipes are a variety of suggested wine pairings and a sprinkling of entertaining tips from Martha and Isaac Mizrahi, such as this one from Martha: "Tie paper name tags to the stem of a pear or small pumpkin to create beautiful place cards."

It's 63 pages long, but of course you can simply download whatever pages you want.

Still panicking? Martha and other acclaimed chefs have a hotline on Sirius Radio from Monday to Wednesday at 866-675-6675. Go to sirius.com/martha for the schedule.

An excellent how-to from LA Times Food Editor Russ Parsons -- for more helpful hints, he'll have a live chat Monday at 4 P.M. EST.

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http://blogs.courant.com/connecticut-homes-gardening/2010/11/how-to-carve-the-turkey.htmlCookingEntertainingFoodHolidaysSun, 21 Nov 2010 22:44:41 -0500Time Spent On Holiday Preparations: Only 42 Hours?Consumer Reports has just come out with a rather fascinating holiday poll, which found that the average American expects to spend about 42 hours buying, wrapping and returning gifts this holiday season, as well as partying and traveling to visit family and friends.

Tod Marks, Consumer Reports senior editor, says when you break down the numbers for an idea of how much time so many of us have invested in the holidays, "it's nice to see that it's not all about shopping, but it's also about coming together."

Not that I'd want to suggest that CR's results were anything but unassailable... The conclusions are based on a telephone survey -- plus another 1,015 interviews of people 18 and older -- conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center from Nov. 4 to 7. Margin of error is +/- 3% points.

Some findings:

* We'll spend about 15 hours on gift-shopping, on average, though women (why am I not surprised?) spend about twice as much time as men -- 20 hours vs. 10 hours.

* Standing in line! This one is a killer: Those surveyed expect to stand in line in stores for about three and a half hours. (Or maybe that maddening limbo will only feel that long.)

* Wrapping will take about three hours, though one in four expect to spend four or more hours on that. (As someone who cares almost more about the wrapping than the gift, I'm in that extra-hours category.)

* Returning gifts will take about an hour, on average, though half of those surveyed said they won't spend any time at all making returns. (Yes! They're keeping my gifts!)

* Talk about party spirit: Twenty-four percent of those surveyed expect to spend 20 or more hours at holiday parties and gatherings. The average is about 15 hours.

* Travel to and fro is expected to take an average 7.4 hours, though a quarter said they'll spend more than 10 hours en route.

And the comments are almost as funny, such as this one by JerzJerry: "I loved this article... it had LEGS and had just a slight hint of FRUIT... or as Ed Norton said to Ralph Kramden... "an AMUSING little wine."

The lead author of the study, Natalie D. Munro at UConn, says that around this time in history people were coming increasingly in contact with one another. And there's nothing like a shared meal to solidify relationships and help ease any frictions.

Meanwhile, in other Stone Age food news, turns out that the "paleo diet" is helping folks lose weight.

The tops and sides are frosted with coconut buttercream and then coated with coconut.

"The result looks like a beautiful, giant white snowball," Barricelli writes. No wonder he can barely keep it in stock around Easter.

And don't you love the fresh-looking honeydew green plates and serving pieces shown in Ben Fink's photo? They were made by Weston potter Frances Palmer.

Here's John's recipe, and here, too, is a link to my recent story about John, his book and his recipe for SoNo Cheesecake, which is scrumptiously encrusted with crushed pistachios and topped with fresh raspberries.

The tantalizing book includes lots of technique tips -- like piping a line of buttercream around the edge to create a "dam" and prevent the pastry cream from oozing.